Rolling Stones reveal massive new album

The actual news here is simpler — and bigger — than the teaser chatter made it sound. The Rolling Stones did not just hint at a “massive” project. They formally announced a new studio album, *Foreign Tongues*, on May 5, with a July 10 release date and a full guest list already out in the open. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood are back at the center, and the band has already put two songs into the rollout. ### What did they actually announce? They announced their 25th studio album, *Foreign Tongues*, due July 10 via Capitol, and paired the reveal with two songs — “In the Stars” and “Rough and Twisted.” That matters because this is not a vague legacy-band tease or a greatest-hits repackaging. It is a new Stones LP with a tracklist, release date, trailer, and a conventional album campaign already underway. (billboard.com) ### Why are people calling it a big one? Because the guest list is unusually stacked even by late-career supergroup standards. The album includes contributions from Paul McCartney, the Cure’s Robert Smith, Steve Winwood, Chad Smith, and a posthumous appearance from Charlie Watts drawn from one of his final recording sessions before his 2021 death. That gives the record both spectacle and emotional weight. (billboard.com) ### Where did the mystery campaign fit in? The cryptic part came first. In late April, billboards appeared in multiple countries showing the Stones’ tongue logo and versions of the phrase “Foreign Tongues” in different languages. Fans read that as an album title clue — correctly, turns out — and the band’s rollout also played with a side-door identity tied to “the Cockroaches,” which fed the speculation before the formal reveal landed. (variety.com) ### How fast did they make it? Very fast, at least by Stones standards. Coverage around the launch says the core of the album was recorded in less than a month at Metropolis Studios in West London, with Andrew Watt returning after *Hackney Diamonds*. That speed is part of the story — this does not look like a dusty vault-clearing exercise. It looks like a band that found a working chemistry and kept going. (nme.com) ### Why is Charlie Watts such a big detail? Because Charlie’s presence changes the emotional frame of the album. He died in August 2021, so any new Stones project featuring him immediately feels like more than just another release cycle. It links the current band to its classic lineup in a concrete way — not as nostalgia, but as an actual musical contribution on the record. (billboard.com) ### Is this really that surprising after *Hackney Diamonds*? A little, yes. *Hackney Diamonds* in 2023 already felt like the triumphant late-career statement — the kind of album bands make once, prove they still have it, then tour behind for a while. Instead, the Stones have followed it in under three years with another studio album. That is the part that makes this more than routine catalog management. (variety.com) ### Are they touring it too? So far, the signal is no announcement, not yes. Recent launch coverage around the Brooklyn event focused on the album itself and noted there was no clear tour reveal attached. That does not rule one out later, but right now the band is selling the record as the event. ### So what is the real takeaway? Basically, the story is not “the Stones teased something.” The story is that one of rock’s oldest active bands has already locked in another full studio album, loaded it with major collaborators, and moved from comeback mode into sustained output. (ca.rollingstone.com) For a band this deep into its history, that is the surprise. (billboard.com) (ca.rollingstone.com)